Additional Nicaragua Border Crossing Information

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From Drive the Americas

People's experiences vary depending on crowds at the border, corrupt or honest border officials, and rules can also change. Read about individual experiences at specific borders below.

[edit] Entering Nicaragua

Guasaule, Honduras to Somotillo, Nicaragua, May 2009

Note that at Guausaule crossing, you do all the exit formalities plus the Nica tourist card on the Honduran side of the border - THEN cross the bridge to do the import paperwork for your vehicle. We bought insurance from a guy who approached us from an unsigned kiosk as we drove onto the bridge - seemed odd, but it worked! The process took longer than other borders, as we got stuck behind a busload of passports waiting to be stamped!

-- Posted by Melanie 15:54, 23 May 2009 (CDT)

Guasaule, Honduras to Somotillo, Nicaragua, December 29, 2008

After Honduras entering Nicaragua with a vehicle is a breeze. Be aware that after you cancel your Hondurian car permit and properly exit the country you will have to go around to the other side of the building to find the Nicaraguan immigration counter. You pay $7 USD/person to enter, they will give you a small yellow tourist card -- hang on to this, they collect it when you leave the country.

Depending on the day you cross the border, the forms may differ in appearance and the order of events may also change.

[edit] Exiting Nicaragua

Penas Blancas, January 20, 2009

Leaving Nicaragua here is a little confusing. You will know you're near the border when people start running toward your car and trying to tell you what to do. We chose to ignore them as much as possible. You will come to a fork in the road, where the right leads in to a street market, the left under an arch. Park at the fork in the road as you will need to pay the $1 'municipal tax.' After getting receipts for this payment, head to the left under the arch. The border official will check your passport and vehicle papers, make sure you paid the municipal tax, and hand you a boleta de revision tourismo, which is a sheet of paper for canceling the vehicle import documents. Drive down the road and take a left where the signs point for 'autos.' At this point, you need to get the boleta signed by a police officer and a border official. These people are likely just wandering around the area, and signed our papers without even looking at our car. Don't ask us what the point of this exercise is. Then go inside the building, present your passport and yellow tourist card, and pay $2 to leave the country. At the next window over, you can present your passport, boleta, and vehicle import papers. They will cancel your permit, stamp the boleta and your passport and you're good to head for the Costa Rican immigration station that is further down the street.

-- Posted by kristin and kelsey

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